Border Patrol agents made 98,708 arrests at the southwest border in fiscal 2026, the fewest in the agency’s history, according to preliminary figures from the Department of Homeland Security.
DHS and U.S. Customs and Border Protection released the year-end numbers for the federal fiscal year that ended Sept. 30. The department said it was also the first fiscal year in which the Border Patrol released no migrants into the country. Fox News and the New York Post reported the figures and a border visit by Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin.
The numbers
- Southwest border arrests: 98,708 in fiscal 2026. DHS says that is 95% below the average of more than 1.8 million a year under the Biden administration, and about 60% below the busiest single month of that period, 249,740.
- All encounters nationwide: 379,243, which DHS calls the lowest in agency history. The department says that is 88% below fiscal 2023, the highest year on record.
- Releases: None. September was the 17th month in a row with no Border Patrol releases, according to DHS.
- Deaths: Migrant deaths identified by the Border Patrol fell nearly 80% compared with the Biden years, the department said.
- Drugs: CBP seized nearly 1 million pounds of drugs, 63% more than its average of the last four years.
- Barrier: CBP says it has finished 250 miles of new border barrier since Jan. 20, 2025, and committed $34.3 billion to wall projects from September 2025 through September 2026.
“President Trump promised the American people a secure border, and the data proves he delivered,” Mullin said in the release. “The results could not be clearer: strong enforcement works.”
Mullin visits the Arizona wall
Mullin toured new wall construction Thursday in Coronado National Memorial near Sierra Vista, Arizona, with CBP Commissioner Rodney Scott, the New York Post reported. He said the administration has arrested 2,268 known terrorists who were inside the country since President Trump returned to office. DHS has not published a breakdown of that figure.
Mullin told the Post that lawsuits from environmental groups and officials, including California Gov. Gavin Newsom, have slowed access to land for the wall. According to the Post, the full project could now run to the end of 2027. Mullin had earlier estimated June 2027.
How this compares with earlier reports
Unofficial agency counts reported by Breitbart News earlier this week put fiscal 2026 near 137,000 arrests. The DHS count released now is the government’s first official year-end figure, and it is lower. iSEARK.com reported the earlier numbers in Border Patrol arrests fell to about 137,000 in fiscal 2026, report shows. Final figures may still change.
Sources: U.S. Department of Homeland Security release, “Under President Trump and Secretary Mullin, DHS Announces Lowest Fiscal Year Border Crossings in American History,” Oct. 16, 2026; Fox News; New York Post.
.jpg){kind=link}
